Domestic airlines adjust for more flight seats to survive high costs
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Domestic airlines have increased the number of seats on their planes to take in more passengers to boost revenue and offset rising costs forced on the industry by a plethora challenges, including aviation fuel and foreign exchange (forex) scarcity.
National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) President Susan Akporiaye explained the strategy is part of coping mechanisms to increase carrying capacity amid dwindling revenue.
She said lower seats, although cheaper, drive up the average seats per departure and translate into lower per-seat costs.
“Nothing has changed in the operating costs yet due to the fluctuating exchange rate, which is affecting our operating costs. The only thing that has changed is that airlines are beginning to release the lower seats now. Some of them have started releasing lower seats,” she stressed.
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
Local airlines seek Keyamo’s approval for forex, licence for aviation fuel import
Foreign airlines’ trapped funds in Nigeria grow to $783
Restricted operations cost local airlines N4b yearly
__________________________________________________________________
Adoption of cheap seats instead of expensive ones
“Earlier, the airlines stopped selling off all the cheap classes and were only selling the expensive ones.
“The airlines had cut off all the cheap seats and were selling only the expensive ones because of the trapped funds issue but now that the rate of exchange is high, most of them are releasing the cheap seats to get more revenue to remain afloat in the business,” Akporiaye added, per The PUNCH.
Aviation experts have expressed concern over the potential negative impact of the recent increase in airfares on both carriers and passengers, caused by the scarcity of forex and other challenges.
Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo has promised to tackle the challenges but stakeholders insist poor implementation of regulation policy is the main bane of the industry.
John Ojikutu, Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Security, asked for a thorough examination of the commercial addition sector by the relevant authorities so as to ascertain the financial health of all airlines.
